Grant helps fund fitness park at Fairfield Beach

By Charles Prince

A 15 station Parcourse fitness center will be installed yet this year at the Fairfield Beach Family Park. Illustration courtesy GameTime.
MILLERSPORT – Fairfield Beach residents will soon have another physical fitness option.

The grant covers $15,098 of the total $20,131 cost. The equipment will be installed yet this year. The activity area will be rubber mulched. “I was surprised we got it,” Morris told The Beacon.
Only some $20,000 in grants were available for all Fairfield County in this round.

“That was Tim Morris doing the work,” Trustee Terry Horn said.

In other business Tuesday night, trustees decided to reject all the bids for phase two of the Cherry Lane reconstruction project.

“Bids were considerably higher than we anticipated,” road supervisor Randy Kemmerer reported. Darby Creek Excavating of Circleville was the lowest bidder at $425,810. The project estimate was $390,000.

“Our part (share) initially was about $100,000,” Kemmerer explained. “Now it is going to be about $45,000 higher which we can’t afford.” He said the county engineer’s office recommended that trustees reject all the bids and he concurs with that suggestion.

Kemmerer said some design changes will be made to reduce the cost. He questions having the contractor replace an eight inch tile some nine feet below the surface. One bidder quoted $40,000 for that while another bid $60,000. The tile will be left in place in the revised specifications.

In addition, rather than grinding down the entire existing roadway 18 inches, the revised specifications will grind down four feet on each side as was done in Phase 1. The ground down area will be filled with 301 asphalt and then the entire roadway will be motorpaved.

“That should save $70,000 or so,” Kemmerer believes.

Horn suggested waiting until January or February to rebid the revised project when contractors are more likely to be looking for the rebid is pushed back to 2011, the township will not be able to seek Ohio Public Works Commission funding for Phase 3 until 2012. If it is rebid yet this year, they can apply for more funding in 2011. Horn then recommended bidding it as late as possible this year.

Kemmerer said the county engineer’s office proposed a September 24 bid opening for te rebid. Work will be scheduled to start April 12 with a Juy 12 completion date. Trustees unanimously approved that schedule.

Trustees discussed a request from Lancaster Public Transit for financial assistance. The agency is seeking pledges at this point for $2-3,000 a year from townships and villages. The funds will be used to increase their local funding so they can seek additional federal funding. The local share is 10 percent with another 10 percent from the state and 80 percent from federal sources.

With the additional funding, the agency will be able to cut its fares for door-to-door service throughout the county to $2 each way.

“I think it is a good idea,” Horn said. He moved to pledge $2,500 for next year. “I think residents will get their moneys worth.” His proposal was unanimously

Horn also brought up the three distressed properties that had been discussed two meetings ago. He now has a letter from the prosecutor’s office outlining applicable Ohio Revised Code sections.

The property at 8920 Lancaster Thornville Road with just a basement and partial floor will be razed and filled in by a tenant renting a garage on the property.

A Notice to Remove the Structure under ORC 505.86 will be sent to the owner of the property at 8881 Lancaster-Thornville Road. The notice will provide 60 days for removal, but requires a written action plan in 30 days.

The next step is unclear for the former Phoenix Tire Recycling facility on Ohio 37. The problem, according to Dupler, is the large Ohio EPA lien on the property. An earlier sheriff’s sale netted a buyer who withdrew when he discovered that the lien hadn’t been removed.